Sony Announces The UMD Passport Program for PS Vita in Japan

That’s some great value, Sony!

You probably remember the original UMD Passport program for the PS Vita- as a successor to the PSP, that lacks a drive to play UMDs that ran games on that system, Sony in Japan initiated a program where users could convert UMDs of their games to digital copies (that would be playable on their account, since Vita is backwards compatible with all digitally available PSP games). Now, it seems that that program is back, or at least a successor to it, but it seems to be pretty different from what it used to be like before.

250 PSP games, previously available only on UMD, will be made available on the PSN Store in Japan (meaning all Vita systems can play them)… for free. As long as you are subscribed to PS+, you’ll be good to go.

That is… amazingly, staggeringly good value, to be honest, and it’s pretty damn nice to see Sony offer the service. It should also help them win some PS+ subscriptions in Japan (PS+ subscription penetration rates are the lowest in Japan), and help spur the adoption of Vita even more.

Right now, this program has not been announced for the west, although considering how antipathetic Sony’s western branches are towards the Vita, I probably wouldn’t hold my breath for it or anything.